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Rise of eReaders and its future implications

PrintWeek Team — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 16:40:00

Basic eBook Readers use monochrome, eInk screens to display text. The eInk looks a lot like paper, and it's easy on your eyes when reading for long periods. On the least expensive models, it's not backlit, so you'll need light to see the text, just as you would with a printed book. But most eBook Readers now include edge lighting that lets you see in the dark. With each model, you can adjust the intensity of the brightness from barely there to flashlight-bright. On the lowest settings, you can read in the dark while your partner sleeps peacefully next to you.

In all the cases, eInk is much easier to read in bright sunlight, while colour touchscreens on tablets tend to wash out, and their glossy displays can show distracting reflections.

The industry seems to have settled on six-inches as the optimal display size for eInk readers; this is what you'll find on most of Amazon's Kindles, for example. There are exceptions, though. Kobo's Forma is significantly larger — eight-inches. And if it's clarity you're after, you're in luck — 300 pixels/inch seems to be the new standard among most recent eBook Readers (aside from the base model Kindle).

Manufacturers are also improving the quality of these eInk displays. A few years ago, page refreshes were sluggish, the entire screen flashed black with each page turn, and some early eBook readers had problems with text contrast, which made for difficult reading. That's all history. The latest readers have crisp, clear text, and employ caching schemes that almost never refresh the full page; most of the time only the letters fade out and back in again. The page refreshes much faster than before.

Meanwhile, touchscreens have an innate advantage: On-screen keyboards make it easy to take notes or run searches within the text of your books. Also, manoeuvring a massive online bookstore on a device with a touch screen is a lot easier.

So eInk is great for reading books, but tablet screens offer a bevy of other benefits. Their colour screens mean you can read much more than books: magazines and comic books are just two examples. Best of all, even lower-cost tablets like the Fire 7 can browse the web, stream video from Netflix, Hulu or other sources, play music, and run apps.

Amongst the eBook Readers, Amazon is still leading in online book world and its latest wi-fi and IG (and now 4G) devices are in the price range of Rs 6,500 to Rs 8,500. Sony eBook Reader is available in variety of models — its pocket edition PRS 350 is the smallest of all eBooks with a weight of 160-gm with touch screen and grey colour display with a resolution of 600x800-pixels.

There are several other devices in the market like AMS EEE Reader DR 900; JetBookLite eBook Reader; Apple iPad and iPad 2; InfibeamPr eBook Reader; Wink E-Book Reader.

Overall general tendency of the people is to go for Amazon Kindle Paper White, which is the most popular eBook Reader. Next in the range are KiboOhara HD; Cobo Libra H2o; Amazon Kindle Kids edition; Amazon Kindle Oasis (2019); Amazon Kindle (2019); Barnes & Nobles; Nook Glowlight 3; Kobo Forma; Barnes and Nobles Nook Glowlight Plus (2019). All these weigh between 6.9-oz to 9.6-oz and the dimensions vary between 6.6x4.6x0.3-inches to 8.3x5.9xo.3-inches.

The eBook Readers arrived in India long after its global presence exploded in North America and other parts of the world. The eBook Readers are costly, whereas now, there are other alternatives available which have multi-utility features vis-à-vis other devices available, such as like different tablets, mobile phones, smart phones, etc.

In the last two decades, publishers are tantalised by the potentials of ePublishing worldwide without printing costs, without warehousing and inventory, without mailing, without returns, without waste, and on top of all, without paper. The lure of these possibilities is irresistible to publishers, yet to date, the right combination of hardware, software and marketing to make ePublishing viable has proven elusive.

The ebooks, rather I should say, ePublishing has created confusion for the publishers big or small as to how one can keep track of copyright, protect their authors, or the piracy of the book or magazine. If the books or magazines are easily available on one’s laptop, or any other handheld device, including mobile phones, what is the need of bookstores or libraries? A book, simply, is an instrument for ideas and self-expression.

Books are defined by text and still photos or illustrations. Books rarely change unless one updates or revises them. It is cumbersome to carry them around. One cannot read a book without a proper light and one cannot hit a ‘search’ key and find that particular passage. Whereas all these ‘canots’ are easily available on all eReaders and any other had held device, laptop, or mobile.

The eBook is actually a misnomer. The device can display magazine content (eMagazine) and newspaper content (eNewspaper) as well as electronic directories, catalogues, and other material (eStuff). The display device is independent of the content. However, a characteristic of books, magazines, and newspapers is the size of the page, all must adjust to the device’s screen size, which is about the size of a hard-cover book page. The trend towards electronic publishing has been based on several factors:

Advancements that provide increased computing functionality at lower cost
The development of new channels of information distribution
The desire to reduce costs by eliminating paper, printing, and physical storage of the printed materials
The ability to search electronic files efficiently and retrieve information instantly
The ability to re-use information in other documents and other formats or add texts and visuals, etc
The acceptance of reading on screen by larger number of people at very low costs and hassles of visiting a bookstore or a library.
The convergence of texts, image, audio, video, animation and interactivity.

It is yet a subject of debate in certain quarters whether an eBook should be treated as a book or new medium of communication, like audiobooks? But what happens when sophisticated software converts the eBook text to hard copy, compile and bind in a physical book form?

The operational technology has developed over the years and the apprehensions of insecure texts and security of copyright of the publishers have diminished considerably. The format is most secure, eReader devices are convenient to use, and soft and easiest on the eyes.

In the US, the UK and other affluent European countries, most of the book stores have ‘com’ in their addresses. Physical books are being replaced by eBooks that have no spines and no pages need to be turned by hand and they are not even made of paper. However, what is nearly fascinating to witness is how both traditional and electronic publishers show great creativity in the way they sell their electronic wares containing texts or pictures on the web.

Asia is home of nearly half the world’s students and the predictions are that this number will rise to almost 92 million by mid-2020. The demands for educational books and equipments, etc will be vast in the world’s two most populous nations — India and China.

Would both these nations be in a position to provide educational books, etc to such a large number of students? The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has enrolled 28 lakh students from all over the country until this year and has awarded 1.9 lakh students at its 28 convocation ceremony recently. The number, I was told, has come down marginally. It is now planning to conduct online examination. This was the first open university in India to have introduced satellite communication systems to facilitate remote classes and downloading of lectures, although it still relies on printed materials and periodic attendance at study centres. I wonder: for such a large number of students, how could books be provided? Perhaps we would find solutions in creating / providing cheaper models of eReaders with easy access of internet and mobile services with 4G links.

Authors and traditional publishers still fear that eBooks may encourage piracy of original and creative works, besides cannibalising the sales of print editions in the absence of punitive laws or amendments in the existing intellectual property rights or copyright laws of various countries, although there is ContentGuard software which is very successful in pinning down hackers infringing copyrights.

Although copyright protection software have been developed but still there are several issues with this new electronic technology of eBook — death of the paper book, death of the traditional publisher, printer, distributor, bookstores and, above all, the overall death of the library. All these entities have to combat this intrusion at individual levels in the sacred world of books.

MN Pandey’s mantra of best practices in book printing

PrintWeek India — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 12:32:46

Quality and timely delivery

Today, commercial and book printing segment is facing some tough challenges. In my opinion, printing volume has taken a hit. On the other hand, the number of jobs is increasing with every passing day.

Now, what matters to a customer is quality and timely delivery. We deal with a smart customer now, who values quality over cost. He also needs the best ratio for it. In other words, quality should be the baseline for all of us, and then, rates should decide the winner.

The differentiator now is the timely delivery of the job, even better, before-time delivery. So, it’s important to keep the commitment. It’s always a smart move to have an inventory available in the warehouse, though it does affect the input cost for the business. However, it is essential to maintain the balance.

In order to ensure a smooth flow of work, it is essential that all the diverse factors in the segment have synergy with each other. These factors include the projection of books required, size of the book, and quantity of each title, and the paper quality.

Instead of negotiating with just the printers, publishers also need to negotiate with distributors for a smooth operation. I have often seen books printed in PoD are stored in distant warehouses. This adds to the cost.

I would also like to highlight the myth we are made to believe that using fewer paper will save the environment. But, has anyone ever studied the real repercussions of eWaste vis-à-vis paper waste? Paper can be recycled, and the trees that are cut for pulp are replanted and taken care of by paper manufacturers. Has anyone checked on the recycling parameters of eWaste, how much percentage of the total eWaste material is being recycled?

Replacing single-use plastic

Traditionally, lamination films are 14 to 12 micron, whereas shrink films are of 16 micron. It is entirely possible to move past plastic in book production, from using lamination on the covers to using shrink wrap post-production. There are options available, including the following.

We can avoid lamination by applying flood UV on cover.

For packing multiple books, we can use VAX coated brown kraft paper.

We can avoid using gummed tape being used for closing the outer carton by glue-pasting the carton. For example, Welbound has a hotmelt glue case sealing machine which is a perfect alternative.

It is important that we should use tight carton. Again, only strip packing should be used to protect the box.

If we are sending the consignment to destination other than local, it should be packed in reuseable pallet made by wood or foam. If we need to protect the books from mishandling during loading and unloading, we should use bubble wrap, which will also protect the consignment from water.

Standardisation of sizes

Nowadays, publishers use around 10 different sizes for book printing. These including 5x7-inches; 5x8-inches; 5.5x8.5-inches; 6x9-inches; 6.25x9.25-inches; 6.5x9.5-inches; 7x9-inches; 7.25x9.5-inches; 8.5x11-inches; and 8.5x12-inches.

Standardising the format will help save on wastage of paper. I recommend four standard sizes. These are 5.5x8.5-inches; 6x9-inches; 7x9-inches; and 8.5x11-inches.

The quality of paper is standardised by grade and grammage. There are three grades available — A Grade; B Grade; and C Grade.

The ideal grammage for book printing is 60; 70; 80; and 90gsm.

Most importantly, we should take care of the grain direction for binding of paperback and hardbound.

Checklist for publishers

Today, publishers usually have four to five printers with them. Publishers should disclose their projections for the year to their print partners in advance to keep inventory.

For colour consistency and proofs demanded by editors and authors, publishers should have a colour-calibrated monitor in-house which is synchronised with the press. This will help save time and cost and will also improve colour reproduction.

I would advise publishers to use PoD model to avoid dilution of the stock return by distributors.

Overview of printing in India 1556-2015

PrintWeek India — Fri, 16 Mar 2018 12:47:00

In India, book printing/ publishing has come a long way since 1556 when Portuguese Jesuits set up a printing press in Goa to print religious books for free distribution. Later, printing/ publishing efforts were accelerated by the East India Company and the British government to print government texts, circulars and government notifications in the form of Gazette publications and booklets side-stitched or glued together.

However, the early contribution of entrepreneurs like Nawal Kishore Bhargava, Sorabhoji, Mustafa Khan, Chintamani Ghosh and a number of government-initiated and financed establishments involved in printing/ publishing is quite remarkable. The initial work in printing booklets in short runs by Mustafai Press, established in 1855 at Lucknow; Nawal Kishore Press, established in 1858 at Lucknow; Indian Press at Allahabad; Gazette Press at Calcutta and Gazette Press at Delhi established in 1841; Mumbai Mudranalaya, established in 1824 at Bombay; Orphan School Press, established in 1843 at Mirzapore; Cawnpore Lithograph Press at Cawnpore established in 1830; Rourkee Madrasa Ka Chhapakhana at Rourkee established in 1845 and Lodehana Press at Ludhiana established in 1836, were concentrated efforts in printing/publishing and distribution.

In the second decade of 1800, noteworthy work was done in the field of publishing by Calcutta Book Society by reprinting science textbooks printed in Europe. In Calcutta alone, Baptists claimed to have printed 710,000 school books in various regional languages by 1820.

Soon after the first armed struggle for independence in 1857, there was a sudden realisation of the importance of the printed word for the urban common man. Only print could help exchange of ideas between different communities in the various parts of the country. The British had their own interest in promoting education in the country, to train a large segment of the urban population as white-collared ‘babus’.

Both these goals boosted printing/ publishing in various parts of the country. Organisations such as Higinbothams in Madras in 1844; Nawal Kishore Press in Lucknow in 1858; DB Taraporevala Sons in Bombay in 1864; AH Wheeler & Co in Allahabad in 1877; Indian Press in Allahabad in 1884; IMH Press in Delhi in 1885; Gowarsons Publishers in 1888 played an important role in giving the impetus to professional printing/ publishing activities in the pre-independence era.

Before and after 1947

Since Independence, printing/ publishing in India is pulsating with charged energies of professionalism and technology, which has resulted in well-designed and well-produced newspapers, magazines, books. This considerable change in printing/ publishing was possible because of the availability of expertise provided by the professionals produced by Regional Schools of Printing Technology sponsored under the First Five Year Plan.

Over the years, more such institutions were opened, besides one IIT (Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, which runs an advance course on design), two universities at Jadavpur and Chennai offering graduate and post-graduate courses. Of late Guru Jhambeshwar University in Hissar, Haryana, is offering graduate and post-graduate courses. Although the progress has been substantial, when we take the overall picture of the publishing industry into consideration, it has not been uniform all over the country; in fact rather uneven in certain states.

In the first three decades of 1900, when independence movement was gathering momentum and so was publishing and distribution system of the printed word in the form of books, journals and newspapers and the clandestinely printed newsletters, in came the influx of various publishing houses involved with printing and publishing of textbooks for schools and colleges, religious books, books on literature, both oriental texts and newly penned books in various regional languages infused with national feelings.

Publishers like Moti Lal Banarasi Das (MLBD) established in 1903; Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind) established in 1903; Nagari Pracharini Sabha established in 1910; Oxford University Press (Indian Branch) established in 1912; and Gita Press in Gorakhpur established in 1927; gave a great push to the Hindi publishing trade in the heartland covering Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, parts of Andhra Pradesh and Bengal.

Deep in the south, several printing /publishing houses like Vidyarambham Press and Book Depot established in 1931 in Alleppey; KR Brothers established in 1925 in Calicut; Prasad Printing & Process established in 1935 in Madras; and Commercial Printing Co established in Madras in 1936 played a key role.

Sri Saraswaty Press in Calcutta, established in 1932, played a crucial role in the printing of underground publicity materials for the freedom movement. While the freedom struggle was on the printing/ publishing trade in India was dragging its feet due to constant harassment by the British Raj and the lack of essential ingredients needed for the progress and survival of the trade – paucity of funds, as the government assistance was almost negligible and private investors had diverted funds to the cause of the freedom struggle on the sly. The printing/ publishing industry did not keep pace with the technological developments in the west – so very few printers/ publishers could match their products with the products printed/ published in Europe and other western countries.

As the freedom struggle gained momentum between 1914 and 1947, the Indian press kept pace with it and most of the English-language newspapers kept on updating and upgrading their plants in the areas of pre-press and printing. Most of these plants were equipped with linotypes, monotypes, big stereo-rotary presses, cameras and block-making units. Bennett Coleman & Co, who owned The Times of India and The Illustrated Weekly, was the first establishment to install India’s first rotogravure press to print multi-colour magazines. But the vernacular press could not keep pace with the English-language press due to unavailable financial resources and the British Raj imposed restrictions, and this imbalance is visible even today.

Undoubtedly, the freedom movement in the country contributed greatly to the growth of the printing industry, the reason being the distribution of quick and multiple reproductions of the messages from senior leaders to grassroots participants in the urban and rural areas — and on the other hand, even quicker distribution of British Raj’s repressive administrative and instructional circulars in English and other regional languages through resident commissioners, magistrates and other functionaries. So, the need of the time was quick and effective growth of the printing outfits all over the country, especially in major cities like Allahabad, Lucknow, Meerut, Jallandhar, Ludhiana, Lahore, Indore, Bareilly, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, and Delhi.

The printing industry

The printing industry in India is more than 200 years old. Over the years, and more so during the last 50 years or so, it has grown steadily, keeping pace with the growth of information, education, communication and computers. Today, it serves as one of the major media of communication, perhaps even more so than radio, television, and other forms of communication. The industry comprises well over 58,000 establishments and it is involved in a number of activities, such as publication of newspapers, magazines, books, outdoor publicity materials. etc.

The quality of printing on these machines was better than platen and stop-cylinder presses and this initiated textbook printing in India, at least for senior school level, in a very small way. As the freedom struggle kept pace with the repressive administration of the British Raj, the printing industry marched along in both sectors — private and government. In spite of repressive measures of the British Raj, newspaper printing/ publishing became an important tool for freedom struggle at that time and several English and regional language newspapers appeared on the scene – broadcasting was almost negligible and totally government controlled.

Printing industry in India in 1897 was at its infancy, making hand-impression of the composed and engraved areas. The art of makeready of any printed area was not much known as the platen machines were being used in the first decade of 1900. Stop-cylinder machines were introduced by some printing houses in Bombay, Madras, Calcutta and Delhi, and later in the early 1940s Miehle Presses, which were known as two-revolution presses, were introduced in India initially by government-run presses and then by commercial printing houses in major cities.

During the period 1925-1946, many small-time printers contributed in the printing of news bulletins, both in Hindi and Urdu and other regional languages. Textbook printing was also undertaken by these printers which came as spill over from big publishing/ printing houses. Most of these books were either side-stitched and cover drawn upon or centre stitched along with soft cover. Some hard cover copies were also produced and our master binders perfected this art just by manual binding.

In pre-Independence days, there were only three big names in the publishing field – New Longman, MacMillan and Oxford University Press. But in the last 67 years, there has been an unbelievable growth in the field of publishing/ printing. One cannot ignore contribution of NCERT in textbook publishing besides Orient Longman, S Chand, Frank Brothers, names like Vakils & Sons; Bolton Fine Arts; Conway Printers; Bombay Offset; Sri Saraswaty Press; Eagle Litho; NK Gossain Press; Prasad Process; Commercial Printing Co; Thomson Press; Mehta Offset — who printed millions of different titles in various languages in association with local, American, and British publishers.

However, a major segment of the printing industry remains small-scale even after 70 years of independence, characterised by low investments and somewhat outdated technology. By the early 1980s, 90% of the printing presses installed in the small-scale sector were letterpress units with semi-automatic composing or hand-composing facility. Only 5 to 6% presses in 1975-80 had full mechanical composing, either mono, lino, or photo-composing with offset process printing facilities as compared to the technological innovations taking place during those years in other parts of the globe.

There has been rapid modernisation in the printing industry in the last two and half decades. And it is for certain that in the next 10 year’s time, installation of latest and upgraded computerised equipment in pre-press and post-press areas will create a concentrated environment in retaining most of the state-of-the art printing jobs from going to overseas countries like Hong Kong and Singapore.

Indian print industry experts and print associations are of the view that time is not far off when India will become a printing hub of entire Asia. Presently, Indian Print Industry is twice the size of Indian Film Industry and is marching towards a turnover of USD 30 billion with a double digit growth.

In the land of fire: lessons from an accident - The Noel D'Cunha Sunday Column

Noel D'Cunha — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 16:28:25

Darwin has considered fire, one of the two most significant achievements of humanity. The other being language. Wherever they have gone, they have carried it with them. In the Vedic mythology of ancient India, Agni is the Hindu God of fire, regarded as the friend and protector of humanity, in particular, he safeguards the home. But when fire strikes, premises can become tinderboxes, and devastate a business.

On 14 November 2017, a part of Adhyaru Industrial Estate in the busy Sun Mill Compound in Mumbai’s Lower Parel caught fire. It was a garment business on the second floor, which not only reduced the equipment, furniture and material in the company’s premises to ashes, but also its neighbouring galas. The fire also had its effect on a floor below. The water sprayed to douse the fire trickled into the premises of Unique Photo Offset Services (UPOS), soaking printed stock, other material, furniture and flooring.

Gautam Nerker of UPOS

Gautam Nerker, director at UPOS, said, “Some equipment have been covered, and I do not know the extent of the damage.”

Accident waiting to happen
The industrial galas in Mumbai, and for that matter, across India, are filled with small companies, some with very low standards of management. This particular industrial estate has had a history of fire accidents. “It almost happens every year,” said Nerkar. “There are a number of garment factories as well as printing units. But the accidents have invariably occurred in the garment business galas, never in the printing galas.”

The fire was a technical disaster, but there’s no confirmation yes, however, a spark from a short-circuit as reported, has something to do with the fire, yet it says something deeply in terms of organisation, control, safety culture and responsibility of those managing the estate.

Nitin Shah of Award

Nitin Shah, director at Award Offset & Packaging, who has a small gala in the next wing of the Adhyaru Industrial Estate was present at the time of the incident. “In this case, I heard that the cause of fire was a short-circuit in the air-conditioning unit.”

Shah added, “The garment manufacturers in the industrial estate also use electric ironing box, and negligence while using the ironing box, also results in the fire. Also, the fire broke out at around 6.30pm, when the said gala was closed for the day. Hence the real cause of the fire is still not known.”

Prevention is better than cure
According to India Risk Survey 2017, the National Crime Record Bureau has reported a total of 18,450 cases of fire accidents in India in 2015, with 1,193 persons injured and 17,700 killed. The cause-wise analysis of fire accidents concluded that 42.1% of deaths (7,445 out of 17,700) were due to fire accidents in residential buildings.

The majority of fire accidents were reported in Maharashtra, which accounted for 22% of all the fire incidents reported.

According to a report by CAG, Maharashtra, India’s most urbanised state, is at high risk of fire accidents as most of its high-rises do not have adequate provisions to tackle fire disasters.

Every industrial estate has to have a safety measure like fire equipment and also a function hydrant system. According to Shah, the rescue operation was made difficult because the hydrant system was not put to use. “Perhaps it was not maintained, besides, the fire-brigade arrived an hour after the fire broke out,” he said, adding, “There were telephone connectivity issues, traffic and the narrow lane leading to the estate did not help matters.”

Hydrant facility at Adhyaru estate

Besides the safety measures, the basic causes of electrical fires are design defects, manufacturing defects, installation defects, and maintenance defects besides the management defects in risk control.

“The wiring inside the Adhyaru estate is terrible. There is a need for the management to take care of this aspect,” said Shah.

According to Section 3 of the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006, the developer, owner, occupier or whatever name called shall comply with all the fire and safety measures adhering to the National Building Code of India, 2005, and as amended from time to time.

While it is essential to have a fire prevention strategy, there are times when such incidents may occur.

Nerkar of Unique Photo Offset Services, who company suffered not because of the fire but its aftermath, says, if the fire incident occurs at his place, he’d be able to put it off.

When PrintWeek India visited the UPOS, every room was fitted with at least two, if not three fire extinguishers. “There are two types of extinguishers in every room. One is for normal fire and one electrical fire.”

Fire safety equipment at UPOS

Nerkar is confident that he will be able to do what he says, because he has appointed a fire consultant who does a periodic audit of the premises, instructs his employees how to get douse the fire, how to evacuate people and how to carry the people injured in the incident. “We had an incidence of fire recently, but we could manage the fire within five minutes because we were prepared for it. Everyone should take fire precaution,” he advised.

Shah of Awards Offset and Packaging, who has two plants, one in Navi Mumbai and one in Silvassa, said, his office is fire compliant. “Even our factories are. We have sand buckets and different types of fire extinguishers. Besides hydrants, we have installed smoke detectors, sprinklers, and location detectors,” he said.

Aftermath

While the premises where the fire took place has been completely destroyed, UPOS’ problem was the water the fire brigade spared to douse the fire a floor above its unit. “The water has seeped into the finished products, and it it has seeped into the stock of paper and ink, it will be totally useless. I cannot estimate the loss at this point in time.”

Due to water spraying from the fire engines, part of false ceiling collapsed and also materials were damaged

There may be some damage to the equipment as well, but Nerkar said, he’d be able to understand the damage and what parts need to be changed only after he begins operations. “At least four to five days of production loss, and if the machines are down, even more,” said Nerkar.

The fire consultant appointed by UPOS will now prepare a report. Look for any danger in terms of an electrical circuit. With the fire guide, electrician and BEST will prepare a complete report and take a decision accordingly regarding restarting the operations.

Depending on the extent of the UPOS damage, claims will be raised. It is, therefore, necessary that the insurance policy is in order, one that covers every aspect of risk, including fire.

Nerkar said, that it is absolutely essential that the insurance papers are made paying proper attention. “Now at the time of emergency, we are finding out that there are many loopholes in it.”

Lessons to be learned

When fire strikes, it can shatter a business – harm people and cause severe damage to property.

Shah said, there are three things that have to be necessarily done.

One, an electrical audit has to be done. For example, check the load carrying capacity of the cables and whether carrying more load due to which heat is generated leading to the short-circuit has to be found out.

Two, have enough water reserve for the hydrant system. The society should make it compulsory to have to fire safety equipment at each galas in the estate.

Third, is insurance. Every unit, building and common premises should have an insurance cover.

Stress on the insurance cover, Nerkar said, “Insurance is a must. We take life insurance knowing that we are going to die someday and the family gets the benefit. It is a part of the cost. If someday it happens and you don’t have the insurance, it will really hurt you bad.

Nerkar advised that besides having a policy, it is also important to know your policy details, and who to contact in times of emergency. “I have learned that it is important to make sure that the policy will deliver. And to do this, it is necessary to comply with the terms and conditions of the policy, which may include having every accident or natural calamity as part of the cover, timely safety audit, having equipment such as fire extinguishers, sprinklers, wherever specified.”

It would also be a good idea to have a CCTV installed. “At times, you may have to provide evidence of how you reacted to the incident to strengthen your claim case. It also assures the policy company that you are serious about your safety.”

Shah concluded by saying that it is quite clear that any natural calamity, and in this case fire, can be a serious risk to print firms. “If you fail to comply with the requirements of safety norms, it can be expensive in a number of ways.”

The science of offset printing plates

Som Nath Sapru — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 18:29:27

Besides the printing press, the most important aspect of offset printing is the plate – which metal or substance it is manufactured with and what chemical processes it has to go through before it is mounted on the plate cylinder – all these factors matter a lot for the end product — the reproduction.

Printing plates must have the ability to transfer an image to paper, cardboard or any other substrates. Printing plates are usually made from metal, plastic, rubber, paper, and other materials. The image is put on the printing plates with photochemical, photomechanical or laser-engraving processes.

It is well understood that metal printing plates are more expensive but these last longer and have greater accuracy and can be used for larger print runs.

Offset printing plates are thin (up to about 0.3mm), and easy to mount on plate cylinder, and they mostly have a mono-metal (aluminium) or, less often, multi-metal, plastic or paper construction.

Aluminium has been gaining ground for a long time among the metal-based plates over zinc and steel. The necessary graining of the aluminium surface is done mechanically either by sand-blasting, ball graining, or by wet or dry brushing. Nowadays, practically all printing plates are grained in an electrolytic process (anodising), that is, electrochemical graining with subsequent oxidation.

The imaging, ink-accepting coating (light-sensitive coating is applied to the base material. This material is usually a polymer, or copper in the case of multi-metal plates (bi-metal plates). Light sensitive, diazo (photo-polymer) pre-coated aluminium printing plates are now the predominant plates in print shops. The image transfer is produced via different properties on the surface of such plates after they have been exposed and developed. The remains of the original light-sensitive coating or the light-sensitive coating changed by the effect of light are the ink-accepting (oleophilic) elements that create the image.

Chemical changes occur as a result of the penetration of photo-effective (actinic) light (light containing UV rays), causing the light-sensitive coating to react differently depending on its type and structure. There are two types of photochemical reactions when developing the printing plate:

1. Hardening of the light-sensitive layer by light (negative plate-making)

2. Decomposition of the light-sensitive layer by light (positive plate-making)

With positive platemaking and conventional printing plate production, a positive film is used as the original, that is, the non-translucent, blackened sections of the film correspond to the ink-accepting surface elements on the plate.

In the case of negative platemaking with ‘negative plates’, a negative film is used as an original, that is, the ink-accepting image areas of the printing plate correspond to the translucent, light areas on the film. For quality assurance and monitoring during plate-making, control elements are copied onto the plates.

There are several types of lithographic plates in use today.

Diazo plates: These utilize diazo (an organic compound) coating, are pre-sensitised, and can be made either from photographic negatives or positives (but are most commonly made from negatives). After exposure to high-intensity light, an emulsion developer (comprising an acid solution containing a lacquer and a gum-etch) is added to the surface. The unexposed portion of the coating (which, when made from photographic negatives, comprises the non-image areas of the plate) is dissolved by the solution, and a treatment of gum makes these areas water-receptive. When diazo plates are made from photographic positives (in which case it is the image areas that are unexposed) special solvents are required to protect the image areas. Diazo plates can be used for print runs as large as 1,50,000. Special pre-lacquered diazo plates can be used for runs as large as 2,50,000.

Photopolymer plates: These are produced in a manner very similar to diazo plates, but the coatings used are more inert and abrasion resistant, and can consequently be used for longer print runs than is possible with diazo plates. Special thermal curing processes can give photopolymers an increased strength, allowing them to be used for print runs as high as 1,000,000.

Silver halide plates: These utilise light-sensitive coatings similar to, although slower than, those used on photographic films. Silver halide plates can be exposed either photographically or by lasers guided by computer data. They are commonly used to print single-colour documents from digital artwork. Silver halide emulsions can be used to coat anodised aluminium and these are often used for colour printing produced from digital artwork.

Electrophotographic plates: These, like the principles of electrostatic printing found in many photocopiers, use a photoconductor (either mounted on a drum or on the substrate) that is sensitised to light utilising a corona discharge which imparts a charge to the photoconductor. Upon exposure to light in the non-image areas, the charge is dissipated, it remaining in the image areas, which then attracts an oppositely-charged toner. A drum-type photoconductor uses a selenium or cadmium sulphide cylinder which receives the image, which is then transferred to paper or other substrate, which can then be used as a printing plate. In another type, the photoconductor is a coating on the substrate itself, the toned image being formed directly on the substrate. Such plates then need to be desensitised in a manner akin to other photolithographic plates.

Bimetal plates: These are plates that are useful for long print runs. Copper, which is highly oleophilic, is electroplated on a hydrophilic metal, such as aluminium or stainless steel. Negative-working platemaking exposes the image areas to light, hardening the coating on top of the copper. The unexposed coating is then dissolved away, baring the copper, which is in turn removed chemically, baring the second metal beneath it. Some plates use a tertiary metal, which serves to merely support the other two and plays little role in the actual printing surface of the plate. Of primary advantage to these plates is their virtual indestructibility.

Ablation plates: These are primarily used in computer-to-plate systems, and consist of digital information controlling laser diodes which burn small holes in a coating applied to the surface of a polyester or metallic plate. Of primary advantage is the lack of chemical processing, which allows them to be mounted and imaged directly on the press.

Heat-sensitive plates: These plates utilise heat (in the form of infrared radiation) rather than light as the means of exposing the image vs. non-image areas. Their coatings typically consist of heat-sensitive polymers, etched by infrared laser diodes. With post-exposure curing processes, these plates can be made capable of print runs in excess of 1,000,000.

Hybrid plates: These utilise two separate coatings, a conventional photopolymer as the bottom layer, a silver halide coating providing the top layer. As the top layer is exposed — either with lasers or conventional, high-intensity light — the bottom layer is exposed by ultraviolet light. Removal of the upper layer and chemical processing of the bottom layer produces the image and non-image areas of the plate, printing being done from the bottom layer.

Of increasing importance and use today is the use of computer-to-plate systems. Normally commercial printers go for thermal plates and the printers who are involved with newspaper printing or large print-runs of textbook printing do use violet CTP plates. Undoubtedly, diode developments are definitely going to cut down on usage of thermal CTP plates, reason being the application and output of quality of reproduction difference in both the thermal and violet will be very negligible.

Talking to a cross-section of plate vendors, I gathered that until FY 2015-16, sales of platesetters was in the range of 1,100 to 1,500 units which is quite encouraging. After all what convinced printers to installations – it is the speed, enhancement of reproduction quality and remarkable saving on production time. All these elements are a must for newspaper printer, textbook printer and the printer of packaging products, yet another factor is the reduction in price range by about 5.7% by the end of 2015. This sharp dip in prices encouraged most of the newspaper establishments to go for CTP installations. In a nutshell, use of CTP technology and plates has reduced the cost of plate preparation with enhanced speed of plate processing.

There are number of plate manufacturers and suppliers in India who are manufacturing plates of international standard for all varieties of offset printing requirements. Few of them are Asian Reprographics, Ronsein Printing Plates, Ronak Printers, Technova, Superlucky Union, Orion Photosensitive Systems, Image Solutions, Innovative Flexotech, AM Graphics, Superprint, Independent Business Machines, etc. Out of all these, Technova is the world’s only manufacturer to manufacture full range of offset plates — violet, thermal, analog PS, UV CTP, inkjet and laser. Besides, it also offers the world’s widest range of pre-sensitised plates with total performance guarantee and lowest cost in-use.

While talking to end-users of Technova products, I gather that plate performance, cost-effectiveness and unsurpassed technical support and advice have enabled Technova to enjoy a market share of over 70% in the Indian sub-continent besides profitable shares in several export markets.

I understand from confirmed sources that Innovative Flexotech has sold 32.5 lakh units of PS plates until 2015 as against the actual usage 24.5 lakh units of positive thermal plates during that period.

All these technical innovations have contributed to superior technical performance of the reproductions which has attracted several overseas publishers to execute their mass publication activities by outsourcing with several Indian printers across the country.

GST will make billing simpler

PrintWeek India — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 12:18:00

The Goods and Service Tax is India’s colossal tax reform and at this stage, its critical for each and every one of us to know GST in detail.

I am aware of the new rules and its applications in my day to day activity and as well as business activities. Half knowledge or no knowledge is going to cause a lot of chaos in the longer run. I strongly feel that every citizen should have complete information about GST. After all, it’s the biggest transformation we are going to experience!

Additionally, we attended seminars that took place in our business circle. Accountants have stepped up both online and offline to impart knowledge about implications of GST, what to expect and the pros-and-cons which is exceptional!

GST benefits the printing business. As of now, GST seems to be making the billing process a lot simpler. The industry has seen multiple tax points, which affected the flow of work. Every product was in a different tax bracket (ceramic mug 14.5%, paper 5%, ink 5%) and the billing process would have taken forever. This seems to be a thing of the past now.

Also, indirect taxes have been a major drawback for people like Sigma Corp who do value addition. But with GST, everyone would be on a level playing field. This would help smaller printing stations who do personalised job work as well.

As far as our company is concerned, our paperwork needed for day-to-day business using GST has been done and hence we are prepared. But for the smooth run of business, all suppliers and customers have to adapt and that is a big challenge. Although most people are adapting fast, we still haven’t got all of them on board. This is much more difficult than we imagined. Most of the customers are owners of small stores and have understood the old tax system over years. Their education of GST is now one of our priorities. This would take some time (may be a few weeks after implementation of GST).

It does benefit the industry overall. Printing business, like most other businesses, goes through different levels of people before the final product is made. In such scenarios, other than the actual product, there are a lot of secondary materials used to finish job.

Previously the taxes paid on those materials (example, print screens) could not be claimed back and hence would increase the finished product cost. Now, with GST, those indirect taxes can also be taken as input tax and hence in the longer run, would reduce the cost of the finished goods.

In my opinion GST will impact each one of us positively!

In the present scheme of things, there are a lot of basic household commodities which are highly priced because of indirect taxes. In my view, the GST affect is expected to eliminate these indirect taxes from all tiers of the supply chain. This will give the end customer low-priced goods. Having said this, I do feel that it’s a cumbersome process and chances of it not being a smooth transition are very high. We need to wait and watch as to how much really shall go as surplus in the monthly expenditure.

(Nikita Shah is the managing partner at Sigma Corp, Hyderabad.)

Women-owned firms are the fastest growing

PrintWeek India — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 12:14:00

In the past few months, I have attended the print association GST meeting in Ahmedabad. Also, I discussed about it with my other associates. I do not try to be dependent on CA as up to now, they are in the dark and do not have proper knowledge about the GST rules for printing industry; as well the filing procedure.

I feel GST will transform the printing business. In fact, those firms producing small job work for clients who worked without a legal bill system will be affected due to GST rules. I think this will be beneficial to our industry as the cut-throat pricing and competition ratio will be less.

Women-power

I think women owned-businesses are the fastest growing segments of our economy. I believe women have a profound opportunity to do more and deliver more. Women can - and should - reap the benefits that come from a value driven business for themselves, their families and their communities. That's why a working woman is being recognised for her dual contribution - her family and her business.

When women come together, amazing things transpire. Women can think differently about their business and take action to become part of a powerful community, sharing to create profound and extraordinary results.

(Meeta Shah is the owner of A&M Enterprises, Ahmedabad, who was awarded the Best Woman Entrepreneur Award in the field of designing and printing in 2012.)

One Nation One Tax One Market is good for print

PrintWeek India — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 10:36:00

These are responses to some of the comments I have heard about GST.

Comment No 1

It will result in a price increase for the small scale printer-manufacturers who do not need to register under excise and service tax department. They need to charge only VAT or WCT as of now.

I am not sure who needed to register earlier as a print provider under excise, except a few cases like those converting paper to supply them as folded cartons, corrugated boxes, diaries, etc. In the current regime, they stand to benefit as GST is applicable to all their buyers and can completely setoff these taxes. Earlier, a small FMCG or food manufacturer could ask them to supply material without any excise duty, as they did do not claim the set off. Today, every link in the chain can avail the set-off against the tax liability. And so, the tax is a cost only in value addition, which gets absorbed in the next process of value addition. Therefore, a buyer of the printer’s services will not treat the GST as a cost at all. It is similar to what we have been doing with excise duty in manufacturing.

So you can simply ignore the GST that is on your purchase bill – be it ink, adhesive, paper or machine. A print firm must not factor these while calculating the final costs.

Earlier, one could not avail the set-off on central excise and central sales tax on machines and consumables, but now you can. GST will do away with Draconian entry taxes like octroi.

Comment No 2

Books have their own destiny: Some books are exempt and others are under GST

Books are classified as reading and writing books in our own trade parlance. The reading books have zero tax even in the pre-GST era while the exercise note books and diaries are taxed. There were lot of confusions and riders earlier for notebooks, including SSI exemptions, 1% non-convertible duty and so on in the past.

There is much-more clarity now. This is because the exercise notebooks and diaries have consumables that have GST they need not worry about cost escalations. There was a notification of reversal of the inclusion of colouring books under the GST-able category and now these have been exempt.

(Printed books, including Braille books [4901] and newspaper, periodicals and journals [4902], maps, atlas, chart and globe [4905] – Zero GST and 4820 registers, account books, note books, order books, receipt books, letter pads, memorandum pads, diaries and similar articles, exercise books, blotting-pads, binders (loose-leaf or other), folders, file covers, etc, at 18%.)

On publishing

As the books, be it trade or education, publishing is not taxed under GST. And so, they will not be able to set off the GST charged by their printer convertors. This may result in a cost increase for the publishers, which they may have to pass on to the trade.

At the risk of being ‘scolded’, I have a contrarian view that books should be taxed, as the consumer will have to pay more for the increase in costs. It would also have brought in some badly needed value addition to this industry. Here, the government is probably saying we do not tax “noble products and revered services”, but I am not sure if makers or consumers of these products are benefitted in anyway by making their products zero tax.

These are my private thoughts. I have penned them at the insistence of Ramu Ramanathan (the editor of PrintWeek India). I was to undertake this venture only after consuming a lot of high GST products (like Old Monk rum) but had to abandon that, as my supplier is out of stocks. So if you have any objections to my thoughts these should be taken up with the finance minister, tax consultants, and of course, the editor of this magazine.

(P Sajith is the director of Impel Services, a Welbound group company.)

Adieu Abhijit Pandit: The print priest of standardisation

PrintWeek India — Sat, 22 Apr 2017 20:23:00

Ramu Ramanathan, PrintWeek India

Abhijit Pandit passed away on 18 April in Nashik City. Social media was abuzz with his colleagues, students and admirers expressing "shock" at his untimely death due to a cardiac arrest.

Abhijit Pandit was born in 1960 in Mumbai. By the time he was in his teens, he was apprenticing at his family-owned print shop plus learning German. In the early eighties, he had worked at a few other printing presses in and around Mumbai, and he realised his true calling: ink on paper.

His forte was offset. He was my "go to man" for anything I needed to know about offset print. Thanks to his training at the Hauchler Studio, Biberach a.d. Riss he was exposed to the skillset which "only the Germans can provide" he said. Besides being hungry for knowledge, he was bright and had a high Mensa-type IQ. In 1987 he got a scholarship as a technical print master at JGS in Stuttgart. On cue he completed his REFA, ADA, Fachhochschulreife.
He worked long hours in many German presses getting his hands dirty with ink plus getting "a peek into how the Germans work on their machines". In the nineties, he acquired a reputation for being a master printer about sheetfed commercial or packaging or UV, as well as coldset newspaper printing and heatset magazine printing. I recall him printing a 200 lpi job with spot varnishing on a SORDZ.

He said, this is nothing, I have also done a 300 lpi job.

When the prodigal son returned to Amuchi Mumbai, his family print shop became his R&D lab. And although, he was "officially production manager with 40 workers", what Pandit strove for was creating a viable Indian template for plant audits where "illiterate operators could test inks and test machines and produce German quality in Indian conditions".

Even in the nineties, he was talking about creating a spreadsheet solution for quality analysis. But to most people this was gobbledygook. Most didn't understand his tech talk; and those who did preferred working with expat technicians. He was a tormented soul. He loathed mediocrity. He loathed the chalta hain attitude. He said, I have no talent for print life in this country, it seems. So he found solace in conducting seminars and workshops on quality and standardisation. At times these sessions were designed for DIC Inks and their handpicked customers. At times, it was training tutorials on the shopfloor of select printers. But I overheard him mention to someone, "People nod in the front row but I don't think they will implement any of these things."

He enjoyed a long innings with Manugraph and later TechNova. He said both companies genuinely believed in one-to-one tech advice and mentoring sessions for customers. Otherwise everyone sought "free gyaan which they could ignore".

At the turn of the century, Pandit shifted his focus onto pre-press. He mentioned, "A good printer should be comfortable with CTP, and its associated technologies. I don't say I am the one who can handle the various workflows, but I can certainly control the halftones and understand the applications." And he believed every master printer should know how to do this.

He said like Arjun in the Mahabharata who had the bird's eye in his sights, his point remained "the same". I asked him, what was his goal? He replied, from the day we met first to now it has always been quality and standardisation of the print process, through proper and focused training of the manpower". This was Abhijit Pandit's forte, so to say.

Abhijit had a troubled and chequered personal life but technically he was one of the sharpest persons on the shopfloor that I knew. He hated carelessness and negligence. "Our people are good. But the Germans are scientific, and print, ultimately is science. You have to master the rules. There are no shortcuts"

The last time we met, he said, "It's a pity that all my qualification, education, experience and passion, could not create an equation - like a magic mantra - that could transform our industry into a better place."

He had bagged two new assignments, "Times are certainly changing. Bob Dylan has won the Nobel; and I am becoming a noble soul." He added, later in the night, "I am single with no strings attached except for my "Halftone" dots or the "Rasterpunkte", I am free to move wherever life takes me."

RIP Abhijit Pandit. May you create halftones in heaven.

Nitin Wani, Smart Solutions

सांस के साथ
अकेला चल रहा था ...

सांस गयी तो
शायद सब साथ चलने लगेंगे ... (Towards making print live long)

Abhijit, as I little understood him over last 25 years, was a linguist, outspoken and mast maula person with very distinctive print domain knowledge. He possibly lived his life all for himself, selflessly, helping (literally) everyone in need.

I remember my first meeting with him, at his press way back in the 90s. A fair, slim and trim, bearded press owner was dirtying his hands on the press as he offered us a toast over discussions on eyeglass, test chart, and halftone dots. We were new engineers looking forward to gaining in-depth knowledge about print technologies, machines and test charts from this Germany-returned print gyani.

We met several times exchanging thoughts and ideas, hearing out to him, going through his notes and his humongous collection of print related books and research papers, sharing concerns over print quality. Many times he surprised me by being a bearded angel to the needy and deprived kids and unattended domesticated animals.

My friend, we will miss you and you will be remembered for everything special that you had and sharing your knowledge.

Salute to Abhijit.

All the best for his journey to the heavenly abode.

The question that now remains unanswered is, can this gem of a person’s wealth of knowledge be restored in any form and be made available to the print fraternity? This time, not selflessly….. but acknowledging his passion and devotion to print media.

Vijay Pareek, Genius Flexo Machinery

I am sad to hear this about an old friend and a colleague. Rest in peace, Abhijit.

Hrishikesh Kulkarni, Royal Impex

I remember Abhijit Sir delivering a lecture at our college and those few hours transformed the way I perceive the printing technology. May the Master rest in peace…

Abhiram Sathe, Kodak

Abhijit Pandit was ahead of time. We couldn't use his expertise to fullest even if he was passionate to share. Besides printing he had unique view to various aspects of life. A great human has departed.

Abhay Kasture, TechNova Imaging Systems

I am sad to know about a friend who is no more. It’s a loss to the chemistry of printing. It’s a dot loss to the industry which can't be gained for a long time. Abhijit, you were the best and lived your life to the fullest. You will be missed. Rest in peace, Abhijit Pandit.

Vinit Jadhav, Taco Visions

It is indeed a great loss to the Indian print industry. I still remember his dedication as he worked on the printing machines, way back in 1988, at his printing press in Govandi. He had printed a classy four-colour poster (23x 36-inch) for us, on his two-colour machine. May his soul rest in peace…

Prof Dr Rajendrakumar Anayath, The Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences

My association with Abhijit Pandit started in 1996 at Manipal. He taught me how to look at a halftone dot differently. Pandit was quite clear and thorough on achieving gray balance and its importance in quality printing and standardisation. I do remember him as a hard core follower of Felix Brunner, the father of standardisation and a worshiper of Roland 700. Standardisation of the printing processes commenced by System Brunner decades ago (in the 1970s) has been an ongoing success, and the concept has proven to be completely right today. Since I come from the other school of thought, it was very difficult for me to accept these theories in the early days but Pandit logically convinced me and I completely accepted him and started a rational, logical approach in offset printing standardisation. This knowledge helped me a lot in later days while associated with Heidelberg PMA, especially during course content development. Pranam to print pundit Abhijit Pandit.

Franklin Joseph, Noble Printing Press

Abhijit was a free spirit, led a gypsy life and gave a new meaning to alcohol dampening. Let us celebrate this crackpot genius. Cheers buddy!

Suhaas Kulkarni, Solenis

And after all those long hours on and off the press, a dedicated soul like this gets three-word salute: Rest in peace. I am sure corporate companies like Manugraph and TechNova can think of having a scholarship named after him.

The Noel D'Cunha Sunday Column - 2,60,000 tonnes of Indian inks: Do we need more?

Noel D'Cunha — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 19:08:00

First the big numbers
The estimated market for printing ink and coating is said to be around 2,60,000 tonnes per annum.

Of this, the offset is approximately 1,40,000 tonnes, with web offset taking a little more than 50% of the share at about 80,000 tonnes. Liquid ink is estimated to be 90,000 tonnes, while metal inks are 14,000 tonnes, screen and special inks at 12,000 tonnes and UV/aqueous inks at 10,000 tonnes.

If we calculate average rates of sheetfed ink to be Rs 230 per can of a kilo, a web to be Rs 120 per kilo, and liquid inks to be Rs 180 per kilo, then the total ink market can be estimated to be in the Rs 4,500 to Rs 5,000-crore region.

Of the Rs Rs 4,500- to Rs 5,000–crore ink market, Sakata’s share would be around Rs 600-crore, Hubergroup India’s 1,000-crore, DIC Rs 800-crore, Seigwerk Rs 500-crore, Flint Rs 250-crore, Toyo Rs 165-crore and others Rs 1,500-crore.

Just to provide a perspective, the printing market in China is estimated to be USD 150-billion. In 2014, 20 top Chinese printing ink companies produced approximately 377,000 tonnes of ink in 2014, which is half of the total ink output in China.

Estimates of the size of the Asian region’s printing ink industry vary.

When PrintWeek India met Ashwani Bharadwaj at Huber's Vapi plant, he placed the Asia-Pacific market at approximately USD 5-billion, with Japan boasting of the largest portion at USD 2-billion and India at USD 750-million.

While most of the other ink manufacturing executives PrintWeek India spoke to concurred with the numbers, Gaurav Sathaye, director at United Inks and Resin, a 75-year old Indian ink maker, feels that the ink figures in India are sometimes vague and often unreliable. Sathaye points to the data on per capita consumption of ink in India, which indicates that consumption of ink in India is very low compared to developed economies. “Despite this, India is in the top 10 markets for printing inks. India is a vast country with a huge young and educated population and even with digitalisation, almost all segments in print continue to grow in India.”

The ink cost factor | Gaurav Satheye, United Inks and Varnish

Area of concern for inks is growing competition and very high emphasis being placed on the cost of ink, though it is one of the lowest value consumables in print and affects only about 3-5 % of the print cost.

Bad debt has been another threat to the entire printing industry - be it printers or consumables manufacturers or distributors. In India, the consumable business is a working capital intensive business due to longer cycles of credits.

But there is a certain realisation now. The users have come to accept that ink is a low ticket item and the onus should be on cost-effectiveness or mileage and service rather than the per kg costs and longer credits.

Trending factors
The global packaging print market is projected to grow and to reach USD 587.19-billion by 2020.

Ashwani Bharadwaj \| Passionate about the safety aspect of printing inks or packaging inks
Awareness about the product safety and its environmental impact is growing very rapidly. Apart from the developments in the digital area, it is the environmental concerns that will guide future product developments.

Bharadwaj says, "India is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2015 to 2020. The reasons are a rising middle class with disposable incomes along with increased urbanisation which has contributed to an increase in preference for processed foods and ready-made meals plus the best in medical care.”

For this, low migration inks are a critical topic for converters and brand owners alike, and ink companies are working closely to meet industry needs.

Bharadwaj says consumers are talking about inks which meet stringent norms of safe food packaging.

After the regulator in India recalled the Maggi noodles, questions were raised if packaged food is good for health. And though Maggi was cleared of any infringements, the worry remains.

Vimal Mehra, director at Sakata Inx, says, “Packaged food can be better than the food stored in kirana stores. But multinational companies will not introduce global regulation unilaterally. Because of multiplier factor, packaged food poisoning and contamination is a more serious issue.”

India is not so good at it still, exporting mainly unprocessed food despite being a leader in milk, fruit, several vegetables, meat etc. “The value addition is thus very poor. Social changes, quality, and convenience will force the growth of packaged food in India,” says Mehra.

Machine efficiency is paramount | Vimal Mehra, Sakata Inx

Currently, printers who have invested in latest machines with better efficiency and results are doing well. The down trend is seen in those who have old machines which are not very cost-effective, and hence make them uncompetitive. So on one hand we see new machines coming in the country and while some printers with old machines getting no business.

Other than low migration inks, there is growth in UV inks.

Prashant Atre of Toyo Ink Arets, says, "UV curable technology has been garnering greater attention, which is why Toyo will continue to focus on developing new UV products to support the future of this strategic market."

So on product innovation, it is mainly the need for better products at cost-effective prices. For example, coatings with a better look and feel such as textured UV or soft touch coating etc. and new marketable concepts. Sathaye says, “The fact is that print needs to be innovative and interesting to survive against the threat of digital printing but also digitalisation and web media, and to fight commoditisation of print. New applications such as track and trace, RFID, security and anti-counterfeit, scented inks, etc are common and commercialised.”

Atre adds, "The world is changing faster than we think and adaptation is the only way to survive. Future is radiation curing UV, EB-electron beam and LED UV.”

Trends in Indian print | Prashant Atre, Toyo Ink Arets

In the food segment, as of now only 15% is packaged, and as the supply chain starts improving, this percentage is bound to get bigger.

I don’t see digital taking over offset in the near future. We are expecting offset to continue to grow by 12-15% year on year basis at least for next five years.

In addition, India has seeing growth in water-based inks and eco-friendly printing techniques, driven by regulatory changes and increased awareness in the industry. Water-based flexo inks for flexible packaging and the healthcare markets as areas of future growth.

Impact of digital on ink makers

Factors influencing print | KS Murthy, Toyo Ink

Urbanisation of cities will influence the packaging segment and also per capita consumption of ink in India Is very small when to developed countries. Global/local food-based FMCG companies focusing in India, enable packaging segment to grow for sure.
Cost efficiency and operation of scale will have a major role in future to stay fit and healthy.
Exports from India will have a major role and India can become a hub of multinationals with own consumption as well.

One of the trending factors which is a challenge to the offset industry will perhaps come from digital print, claim many experts. KS Murthy of Toyo Ink feels that when the move towards digital will happen, it is the newspaper segment that will face the challenge of growth.

But as of now domestically, certain segments of printing (especially labels and packaging), are growing at around 20% and are essentially based on conventional technologies of offset, flexo, and gravure supported by recent technology upgradations such as UV curing or EB curing or UV LED curing.

The offset is still one of the most cost effective printing technology for high-quality commercial and packaging printing for medium run jobs. The run lengths are not down to 1000 cartons or 1000 labels and till then it is difficult to rely on digital alone.

But digital printing has some huge strengths such as no makeready, short-run economics, and unique print or variable data printing. All these allow it to do certain customised and value-added products or short runs very profitably.”

But there are flip sides to digital as well. “The cost of equipment, as well as the consumables cost / "click" costs are very high to allow it to compete with the conventional technologies. To add to that the depreciation of digital presses happens the minute the first print is clicked, and technology obsolescence implies the press is almost scrap value or certainly hugely depreciated within a year or two.”

All said, it is not the replacement of offset by digital or competition with digital printing that poses a threat to offset, but in fact the combination of digital that allows a unique opportunity for slightly differentiated, customised and more value-added product.

Sathaye says he sees concepts such as one book factory using digital for short-run orders and offset for larger orders, or digital label presses for proofing or short run orders and UV Flexo for long run orders. “Organised companies are strategically inducting digital into their organisation and the benefits are seen.”

But in this game of offset versus digital, there is one danger, and that is when offset printers try to match digital rates for print runs of say 200 sheets, and in turn make a loss. This is done solely to try to hold the customer back. “Change is inevitable. It is most important for us as an industry to not fight the change nor push for the change before its time. We must be receptive to change and make the best use of it.”

And as Mehra of Sakata Inx says, the offset will not extinct because there is good growth in packaging, and ink makers will continue to back the packagers with better inks. “All major ink companies have digital inks in their range and when it’s time for digital in India, it will be brought to the country,” he concludes assuringly.

So the onus will be on printers to find niches and segments for themselves to maximise returns through a combination of new technologies with proven conventional ones.

Meeting print and business demands | RY Kamat, Hubergroup India

If you look at food packaging – there are new regulations and environmental impacts like plastic, recyclability and of course,there’s ink migration and toxicity. All these are required to be met. When it comes to flexible packaging, the talk revolves around toluene-free and ketone-free inks. These are the new challenges, and this is where from the point of view of inkmakers, brands,packagers, consumers, it becomes important.

I think the ink manufacturers are equipped to meet these challenges. We have to go with the trends.

It’s a business, the manufacturing trends do not change, it’s the technology that has to be upgraded or brought in.Obviouslythere would be some modification to the manufacturing processes likeGMPs,when new technologies are introduced to develop new products.

Management Talk: I am ‘horribly’ busy

Suresh Ramakrishnan — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 11:57:00

There are many who are and you can see it on their face - distracted, short attention span, looking constantly at their watch, attending to calls every now and then, the soft tone of messages and mails arriving every passing second, sipping through a jar of coffee or tea, a cold lunch/ snack left half opened at one corner, piles of paper and files strewn all over, and seemingly irritable.

I have interacted with several such people throughout my career. Yes, some were genuinely stressed and even sought help on how to reduce it. There were others who I believed brought stress onto themselves and there were a few who used it more as a ‘tag’ to feel important or possibly to gain some element of empathy.

My lessons on how ‘NOT’ to be busy came from a superior I worked with several years back when I was a rookie. I observed him over couple of years to understand how he went about his day. For starters, he arrived and left on time. He would rarely throw a fit. His meetings had a pre-decided agenda and duration and he spent sufficient time reading that helped him with relevant knowledge to steer any discussion.

This is what I gathered over time:

The 15-second rule: He used to state that any information stored on your personal computer should be retrievable in less than 15 seconds. There has to be an archival methodology that helps navigate to the right file in the shortest possible time. This was applicable to emails too.

No unread by EOD: This isn’t possible if you get thousands of emails a day. So set expectations right and every happening at every nook and corner need not arrive at your inbox. If the volume goes down drastically, attention given to those that arrive is higher and response time is significantly better too.

If it can’t fit my calendar the meeting can’t happen: Most meetings are planned in advance and every attendee is intimated using the meeting option on mail. If it clashes with existing meetings, it can be notified to the group. Yes, there are allowances made for emergencies but they are usually rare.

Keen to be updated but not curious to know everything: If you have able managers and trust them as much as is required, they will take care of several projects that may not need your intervention. Seek regular reports but you need not scurry from person to person to know if things are in order.

Acquire skills to grow: You can learn on the job but it is good to gather perspectives of experts or seniors in the relevant field. Never shy away from a classroom; regular attendance to seek knowledge reduces stress a great deal.

Believe in speed: Optimise processes to ensure the efficiency increases significantly over time. Review projects to iron out pain areas and ensure the learning is implemented from the next one.

In today’s day and age when distraction through several beeps and tones is the order, it is critical to review if you are sinking in information overload - 90% of which does not help you grow. It will be a matter of discipline to sift through what you are linked to and keep only those that help you do you work faster.

So, how busy are you?

Suresh Ramakrishnan is the publisher at Haymarket Media (India)